All I Really Need to Know I Learned When I Embraced My Asexuality

A forest full of greenery, with sunlight streaming in the center of the image, creating an orange glow. On top of this is the text “All I Really Need to Know I Learned When I Embraced My Asexuality, by Elle Rose AKA scretladyspider”, in white text. The title is also backed by a black background.

“Remember the little seed in the styrofoam cup:
The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.” — All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, a poem by Robert Fulghum

Chances are that if you grew up in the USA you’ve read or heard the poem All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Maybe you’ve seen it on Facebook, reshared by your aunt next to recipes for lemon squares. Or maybe you’ve heard it read out loud at a banquet as something inspirational and been unsure if the speaker really meant what they were saying or if they just weren’t good at writing their own speech. It’s possible that you have heard it spoken by a valedictorian at your high school graduation as you sat there fidgeting and sweating, wishing that these speeches were more interesting to listen to. Or every time it’s came up, you tuned it out completely and my bringing it up is the first you’ve heard or seen of it in years. Maybe this is the first you’ve ever heard of the poem and you’re wondering where I’m going with this.

Published in 1990, Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is a poem written by Robert Fulghum that captures how similar being a child can be to being an adult. For as different as it can feel to be a kid, the truth…